The Unexpected
by barebackriderMT
Summary: I had my entire life planned out. Nothing was supposed to interfer with that. Then he went from being my childhood friend to being the object of my desire. He wasn't supposed to a part of my life after we grew up. His reputation was less than impressive and I certainly didn't need him to be in my life this way, yet, I can't make myself stop feeling something that seems so right.
1. Chapter 1

Rukia's POV

What was I thinking? I thought I knew all of the answers and how things are supposed to go and what I was supposed to feel all the time. How naïve I was. Such a stupid, insecure, little girl. So that isn't completely accurate. I did know what I was thinking and what I was feeling; well, for the most part I knew what I was thinking. Is it so wrong for someone so young to just want something and then go after it, even if that person doesn't truly know the meaning behind everything they chose to do? I don't believe that it is so wrong.

I had this fairytale image of my life growing up. I figured that I was going to be a beautiful, strong woman and that a prince was going to come sweep me off of my feet and we were going to live happily ever after. He wasn't going to be just any ordinary prince, he was going to be my best friend, my worst critic, my number one fan, and of course, my prince. Everything was planned out. Every detail of my life was planned out, how it was going to happen, when it was going to happen, and whom it was going to happen with. Everything was going to be perfect, heck, it still could be. My life is far from being over.

Before I can begin to move forward with my life, I guess there are some things that I need to clear up, get off my chest. I graduated high school with honors, had a great 4 year college lined up to begin that fall semester and had my future all planned out. What I didn't have planned out was him. He was never supposed to be a major part of my life, yet there he was, just as plain as day. He was no stranger, quite the opposite actually. I've known Ichigo practically my entire life. We went to elementary and middle school together, played together all the time after school and we were always having great adventures together. He wasn't my best friend, but we were really good friends until High School. Ichigo ended up going to a different high school than I did, in fact, he ended up going to my high school's rival. We definitely didn't see each other as often as we did growing up, but we would see each other on the weekends, at a mutual friends' party, or simply around.

One weekend, in the fall of my senior year in high school, Ichigo and I were at the same party.

"Hey Ichigo! Didn't expect to see you here. This isn't your normal crowd."

Ichigo was more of the loner in high school. He had his friends, sure, but they never really went out much, if they all weren't there, none of them were there. It was a bit strange, but then again, most people preferred it that way since him and his crowd weren't exactly the 'good' kids.

"Yeah, well, my dad kind of needs a driver tonight and since I got in trouble at school, well, lets just say that I'm at his beck-and-call."

"Oh. What did you do this time?"

I wasn't trying to be mean, or to even insinuate that he did do something wrong, though he usually was guilty. I simply wanted to talk to Ichigo. It had been quite a few weeks since the last time I saw him and really got to talk to him alone. Sometimes I missed my childhood friend.

"Sure, blame it on me! I always do something wrong and I'm always guilty, right!" His brown eyes were looking all around him, looking anywhere, and everywhere, but at me.

I could tell that whatever it was that happened, it really bothered him to have me think that he was in the wrong.

"I didn't mean that you actually did it, I just wanted to know what it is that they think you did?" Hopefully that calms him down a bit. Hopefully that will ease us into just having fun with each other, like we used to.

Ichigo got a little smirk on his face and I knew that everything was okay now.

"Yeah well, it doesn't really matter anymore, my sentence is up on Monday, so I'll be back at school and causing more trouble in no time." His smirk was now a full-blown smile and it made me happy to see him smile. "Besides, why would I want to talk about my problems and school when I've got you here to talk to about everything else."

I smiled back at him and let out a little laugh. "You make a very good point."

That was the first night that I started to see Ichigo in a different light. He was still my friend, but different. I wouldn't say that I started liking him at that point, but I definitely had some feelings brewing that weren't completely friend related. I really wanted to put those feelings aside because I had a lot of other things going on with my life and I didn't need unnecessary feelings towards a friend of mine to add to my plate and I knew that Ichigo only every saw me as his little childhood friend and that would probably never change.

Over the next couple of months I didn't really see Ichigo that much. The few times that I did see him I always had some sort of excuse to make a quick getaway. The fall semester went by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it, it was Prom season. It had been a total of 6 months since the party that I talked to him, since I had talked to him at all, other than a 'Hello' or a 'Goodbye.' There he was. Sitting on a bar stool, drinking a coke and talking to some of his friends. It was my friend, Renji's birthday party, so I couldn't just turn around and leave, that would have been rude, besides, Renji was my friend before he had started dating Ichigos' friend Orihime. That would explain why Ichigo was there though, because Orihime was dating Renji, how convenient. Wait, why did I care so much if Ichigo was here? We're just friends, we've only ever been just friends and will always be just friends, in fact, we'll probably drift apart after I leave this town and never talk again.

"Hey Renji! Happy Birthday!"

"Hey Rukia! Thanks. If you want anything to drink or to eat the food is over on the porch and the drinks are in the cooler by the tables."

"Thanks, I think I'll head over there now."

"Okay."

I wasn't really hungry, but I just didn't want to be at the bar counter where Ichigo was sitting. It just felt too awkward. I'm sure that he wouldn't have thought it was awkward, he probably would've just thought I was being weird or something.

"Hey Rukia. How's it going? Haven't talked to you in a while."

I can't believe it; I came over here to avoid him, yet here he stands, right next to me. He was so close that I would have to just lean a little to the left and we would have been touching. Nothing major though, just our arms, but it didn't matter, what mattered is that I wanted to be able to touch him, I wanted to feel the warmth of his skin on mine, and that was unacceptable.

"Hey Ichigo. Yeah, it has been a while. I've been really busy with school and work and stuff." Stuff? I can't believe I just said that I've been busy with stuff. A ten year old says that they are busy with stuff, not an eighteen year old.

"And stuff huh? What kind of stuff?"

There it was. That smile that I have permanently embedded in my head. Every time I think of him he is always wearing that smile. Why does he have to flash that smile at me now?

"Oh you know, the usual, hanging out with my friends, visiting with my brother since I won't be seeing him much of when I go off to college, deciding on what I want to major in, getting ready for Prom and making the arrangements for getting there, where to eat, where to stay afterwards, you know, stuff." Okay, so I was clearly trying to bore him and flirt at the same time. I don't think I did a very good job of either because he was still just looking at me with the same look, completely unfazed by anything that I just said.

"So you're going to your prom then?"

His question completely baffled me. Of course I'm going to my senior prom, it's like a right of passage. It's something that every senior has to do before they can graduate from High School, just so they can say that they went to their High School senior prom.

"Um, yeah, that was the general idea."

"Oh, yeah, um…. so who are you going with?"

"Oh just my normal crowd, Renji, of course Orihime, Rangiku and Tatsuki."

"Wait, so you, three of your girlfriends and Renji are all going to prom together? Is Renji the Pimp or something?"

"NO! Geeze, how could you even think something like that? Rangiku and Tatsuki don't have boyfriends, Orihime, well, it's a given that she'd be going to Renji's prom with him, and Renji and I always said we would go to our senior prom together, to finish out our high school days together. That and I didn't want to go to prom alone."

Ichigo just stared at me for a moment. His expression stayed the same, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking about.

"Well…that sounds like it'll be a lot of fun, I hope you have a really good time at Prom with all of your friends." He quickly flashed me another one of his smiles and then turned to walk away.

I reached out to grab his arm before he could walk away. Something inside me didn't want to end this conversation. Looking into his brown eyes, and the way he kept nervously running his fingers through his bright orange hair. No girl could deny that Ichigo had grown into a very handsome man. His broad shoulders and what I could only imagine a very sexy abdomen radiated sex appeal. No! I need to stop thinking about him like this. It will never happen. Never!

At the feel of my tiny hand grasping his arm, Ichigo turned back to look at me, almost glaring.

"So what about your Prom? Are you going?" I spit out before I regretted even making him stop from walking away from me.

"Nah, Prom is something that I never want to have to experience. If I'm going to spend money on a Saturday night and have fun, then I'm going to do something that I really want to do and not attend some school party." He turned around once again and then he was gone.

Ichigos' POV

Fuck! I was so close to finally asking Rukia out. I've only been pining over this girl since we were kids, but she was always out of my league. She's always been so perfect, so kind to everyone, but to me, well, she treats me like a brother. She's never looked at me the same way she looks at other guys. But then again, why would she? I'm constantly getting into fights, my family isn't exactly swimming in riches, and well, look at me…bright freaking orange hair, I tower over just about everyone and, well okay, I can't really find any faults with my muscles, but still. She'd never go for a guy like me. Though, she did grab my arm when I was about to walk away, what the fuck was that about? She probably just felt bad for me, or something. Next time, next time I'm definitely not going to be such a pussy and just go for it. What's the worst that can happen? She'll be gone in a few months anyway and then I'll probably never see her again or have another chance to touch that beautiful porcelain white skin, or run my fingers through her dark raven hair. Oh fuck! I have got to stop thinking about her like this. I have to get out of this party.

"Hey Renji, great party man. Wish I could stay longer but my dad is trying to get a hold of me, guess it's time to pay for my crimes."

"Oh sure, thanks for coming, I'll see you around!"

And with that I ran out of the party, leaving Rukia behind to probably chat it up with some other guy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you everyone for reading my first chapter and the reviews, I really appreciate them. This is my first story ever so I hope you continue to enjoy it as it develops. **

**I do not own bleach or any of it's characters used in this story. **

* * *

**Rukias' POV**

I pin back the top half of my hair and apply the final layer of lip-gloss before I step back from the mirror and am satisfied with what I see. I hardly ever get dressed up. I decided to wear a short dress for Prom; especially since I'm so short a longer dress would've just swallowed me up. My dress fits perfectly. The color makes my eyes stand out; it's a deep violet dress with silver beading along the bodice. It's strapless, so I can show off my shoulders and the back is a lace up. It came to just above my knee and was only slightly 'ball gown' looking, I didn't want anything too form fitting but didn't want an overly dramatic dress either. Looking at myself in the mirror I truly felt beautiful.

"Perfect. Tonight is going to be a night for me to remember."

I did one last turn in front of the mirror before I heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Renji, you look very handsome in your suit. Who would've thought you'd clean up this nicely?" I gave him a very wide grin and gestured for him to come into my house.

"Yeah, well, you don't look too bad yourself. You know, if Orihime and I weren't so hot and heavy, I'd probably try to get with you." Renji just looked over at me and grinned.

"Oh gosh Renji! Could you be any grosser? The mental image that just popped into my mind is going to haunt me for weeks now, thank you."

Renji walked over and put his arm around me. We both took a look at ourselves in the mirror in the living room and it was amazing how much we've both grown up, and how well we did clean up.

"Yep, I'm looking mighty studly tonight. I'm thinking that there is no way Orihime is going to be able to turn me down tonight."

"Excuse me?" I turned to look over at Renji with just a hint of disgust on my face.

"What? You don't think we're just dating because of her sparkling personality? Nah, she's fun and all, and a really great girl, but oral is only going to get you so far, it's either tonight or I think I might be ready to move on."

"Seriously Renji? You can't keep jumping from girl to girl just because they aren't putting out. At this rate there aren't going to be any girls left in this whole town you haven't been with."

"Well, I'm sure there will always be at least one girl that I won't ever get with." Renji looked over at me with soft eyes and a half smile. I couldn't help but blush a little, but seriously? Renji and I? Even the thought of it didn't sit right with me. No, we were definitely better as best friends. He was someone I could and would always depend on to always be there for me no matter what.

"Hellooooo? Anybody here?" Renji and I both turned at the sound of Orihime announcing her presence.

I leaned over to Renji and whispered, "You be good to her. She treats you better than anyone you've ever dated before, and to be completely honest, I've never seen you look happier. Don't screw this up." I pushed him to the door before he had time to object so we could welcome everyone showing up.

"Hi Orihime! You look beautiful!" I smiled at the Auburn haired girl standing at my door, wearing a long, bright yellow, haltered style fitted dress. She truly did look wonderful.

"Thank you Rukia. I really wanted to look my best for Renji." She glanced past me to look at her boyfriend, who, to my amazment, was looking back at her with what looked like love in his eyes.

"I don't think beautiful begins to describe how you look right now." Renji walked past me, took Orihime by the waist and brought her to his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips gently, yet passionately against hers.

I couldn't help but feel a slight sting of jealousy at this. Not because I was jealous of them, but more jealous of what they have. It was at this moment I realized that I was lonely, and while I had everything a girl could ever possibly want, I didn't have anyone to share my life with. How much I yearned for someone to hold me like Renji holds Orihime. To be kissed like that. To have Ichigo kiss me like that.

My thoughts trailing towards that orange haired man were quickly interrupted by the arrival of Rangiku and Tatsuki.

Rangiku had her long blonde hair down and flowing, while her womanly curves were excuenatied by her low cut, hot pink, form fitting gown. Tatsuki was dress a bit more appropriately, with a simple, long, sky blue empire waist dress.

"The party has arrived! Lets get this thing started, I'm ready to get my dance on and flirt with all the hotties..." We all just laughed at Rangiku and made our way out to the limo.

"It's officially Prom, only 2 weeks left until graduation and then we will all be free of this place." I smiled at my statement and we all toasted in the limo as it took off. My brother knew how special prom was to me so he allowed for champagne to be supplied to us, but only in the limo.

We arrived at prom about 2 hours after we left my house. We had to stop and eat, and of course, we finished off the delightful champagne. Everyone was feeling great and ready to party.

"Whoo! Let's go hunt down some single men Tatsuki."

"Only for you Rangiku, mostly because you won't stop nagging me until I agree to come with you."

"Yippie! We're off then, see you on the dance floor Rukia, Renji and Orihime."

Rangiku and Tatsuki headed off to the refreshment table to make themselves known to a couple of single guys that were lingering there. I'm pretty sure neither of them will be coming back to the hotel we booked tonight…. at least not alone.

"Why don't you two go get your pictures taken?" I looked over at Renji and Orihime who hadn't let go of each other since we left my house.

"Why don't you come with us Rukia? I'd love to have a picture of the three of us together, after all, you are Renjis' best friend."

I smiled at Orihime, "Thank you, but tonight should be about the two of you having a great time, besides, I'm going to go mingle, see who all is here and maybe we can get one big group shot before the end of the night."

I could see a slight bit of disappointment on Orihimes' face, but her eyes were filled with joy over having the entire evening to spend with Renji, in anyway she wanted.

"Okay, well, if you change your mind just let us know, okay?"

"Don't worry about her Orihime, right Rukia? You're a big girl and don't need us to keep you company tonight." Renji looked over at me with this huge cheesy grin, and I knew exactly what he was getting at.

"Right Renji. Go one, you go have fun and I'll catch up with you later."

With that I walked away from Orihime and Renji before Orihime could think of another activity that I needed to be included in. Did she somehow feel sorry for me because technically I was alone at my own prom? I certainly didn't mind, sort of.

I made the rounds in the building, talking to the teachers that were chaperoning and the other students that I was friendly with when I noticed a few guys that were part of Ichigos' group of friends.

"Hey. What are you guys doing at this prom? Isn't yours tonight too?" Soon I found myself surrounded by three pretty decent sized guys. Chad, Ikkaku, and Shuhei. Appearance wise you would definitely not want to mess with them. Chad was huge, about double my height, had shaggy brown hair, really tan skin, and muscles to put any man to shame. Ikkaku, he was about the same size as Ichigo, a little bit leaner, but he had a shaved head and usually some sort of scowl on his face. Shuhei, he could have been Ichigos' body double, except for some scars and a distinctive tattoo on his face. Shuhei also had brown hair. This was Ichigos' group, usually the troublemakers, and I had no idea what they were doing at my prom.

Ikkaku was the one that answered my question for me.

"Yeah, well, we're not exactly allowed to attend our prom. Something about being rotten teenagers that will end up ruining the whole even for the entire student body."

"Oh, I see. So you decided to come and crash my prom instead?"

"Not exactly. We came here because…" and Ikkaku was quickly cut off by an all too familiar voice that I never expected to hear tonight.

"I think I can take the explanation from here guys. Why don't you o find yourself someone to pick on or some girls to pick up?"

Chad, Ikkaku, and Shuhei walked away. My heart was racing and I wanted to turn around to make sure that it was him standing behind me, but I also didn't want to be disappointed if it wasn't him. I felt a hand on my shoulder and the warmth of his breath as he whispered into my ear, "You look beautiful tonight Rukia."

His hand dropped from my shoulder and I turned my head to see those brown eyes and orange hair.

"Ichigo? Wh-what are you doing here?" I searched his face to try to find a hint, but there was nothing, just a smile. I looked him over. He was handsome. He was wearing a very well tailored black suit with a red shirt underneath and a black tie.

"Well, my friends and I really didn't have anything better to do tonight and I thought to myself, I wonder if Rukia will have anyone to dance with at her prom."

A smile formed across my face and my heart continued to race even faster. How could one sentence from him make me feel this way? I wasn't even sure what I was feeling; all I knew is that right now, in this moment, I didn't want the feeling to end.

Before I could stop my body from reacting to his words I reached out my hand to him, looked into his eyes and said, "I do now."

Ichigo smiled back at me, took my hand and lead me out onto the dance floor. I could feel everyone's' eyes on Ichigo and me. I knew what they were all thinking. Why was this delinquent at our prom and how long until him and his friends found a way to ruin it. For once though, I didn't care what anyone thought. For once I didn't care about being perfect. For once, I was going to allow my heart to do the thinking instead of my head.

"So tell me, why are your friends here with you if the only reason you came was to dance with me?"

"Um…well, you know, they wanted something to do tonight too and I figured they could just tag along."

"Somehow I don't believe you."

"Well, that's your judgment call I suppose." Ichigo smirked and then twirled me around the floor.

By the fourth turn I was starting to regret my fifth glass of champagne. I stopped in mid turn and ran off the dance floor to the bathroom. I made it there just in time before I threw up. How embarrassing. I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I knew there was a reason I always kept a toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse. I can't believe I was the girl throwing up in the bathroom on prom night. I wanted to go back to the dance floor to find Ichigo and explain what had happened, but I didn't know if I could face him with my embarrassment. I decided to go outside and get some fresh air and gather my nerves before I went to find Ichigo. I walked out of a side door to what looked like a park area. I found a bench to sit on and just relaxed for a few minutes.

"So this is where you ran off to."

I looked up and saw Ichigo looking down at me. He started to take off his coat and then threw it over my shoulders before taking a seat next to me. I smiled at him.

"Thank you. Look, I'm sorry about running off like that, it's just"

"It's okay, you don't need to explain anything to me."

"No, it's actually pretty funny, you see, my brother bought me and my friends a few bottles of champagne to celebrate prom with and we finished them all before we even got here."

"Oh. Wow, didn't expect that. Good little Rukia getting sloshed before a school sponsored event? I think I'm starting to rub off on you."

I wish you would. Ugh. If only I could say that out loud without sounding completely pathetic. Instead I just smile back at him.

We sat there in silence for a few moments. It was the longest few moments of silence I think I have ever experienced. I kept looking into Ichigos' eyes, and he was looking right back into mine. He seemed nervous; almost as if he was trying to tell me something; something horrible.

I reached over and put my hand on top of his, hoping to comfort him if there was something wrong.

**Ichigos' POV**

Her hand is so warm, and she really does look amazing tonight.

"Rukia, I."

She was looking at me so intently. I couldn't find the right words to use to express what I was feeling. I know I'm just some messed up troublemaker that's no good for you, but I want to be with you.

"Ichigo? What's going on?"

Her hand gripped tighter on my own hand and my heart started to race. I couldn't hold back anymore. My free hand cupped the side of her face as I leaned in. Our lips were barely an inch apart when I felt her warm breath and then I went for it. Our lips were touching. Her lips were so soft, so eager to feel mine on them. I could feel her hand move from mine and move to my neck. I then moved my free hand and pulled her closer to me. Our lips perfectly in sync, the passion growing between them and our breathing became heavier.

As quickly as the kiss had started I felt Rukia pull away from me. It was amazing, but why did she pull away. Fuck, did I just make a huge mistake taking this chance?

"Ichigo…. that"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to force that on you, I just…"

Her lips were on mine again, this time her fingers were in my hair and her body was pressed up against mine. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in as close as I possible could.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

We both stopped and turned to the voice that interrupted us. It belonged to Sosuke Aizen. The one guy that I despised and have gotten into too many fights with. The absolute last person I ever wanted to see tonight, while I was with Rukia. Shit Rukia! Aizen will surely try to find a way to use her to get to me.

I turned to Rukia, "You need to go back inside, please."


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't quite understand why he was asking me to leave. The anger that was forming in his eyes not only made me worry for him, but also made me angry. How could the moment we were having be ruined so quickly? Maybe it was a sign that I should just stay away.

I looked back at Ichigo, not able to form an answer due to my confusion of the situation. I looked over at the man that had interrupted us, stood up and simply walked away. This was for the best. I passed Chad, Ikkaku, and Shuhei as I walked back into the building, but before any of them could say anything to me I just pointed outside and then kept walking.

This is exactly why I knew I was supposed to stay away from, not just Ichigo, but all guys romantically. They just end up causing more drama that I needed in my life. I was 2 weeks away from graduation and I needed to keep up with my finals so my grades didn't slip and I didn't lose my spot as valedictorian. These were the things that were important to me. Not some kiss with some guy…. but of course, this wasn't just some kiss, and Ichigo was certainly not some guy, he was Ichigo. My Ichigo. No, things were definitely better and they way they should be before that kiss. I'm just going to pretend it didn't happen.

My decision was made up and I walked back into the dance with my mind set to find my friends, take that group picture and finish out the night without a care in the world. Whatever Ichigo was doing outside was not my concern.

Outside…

"Ichigo!" I heard Chad call out my name, but I never let my eyes leave Aizen. I don't know what this guy was doing here, but whatever it was it couldn't be good.

"What are you doing here Aizen? Looking for trouble?"

Aizens' lip formed a smirk.

"If I were looking for trouble, I guess I found it. But believe it or not, Ichigo, I did not come here for you, however now that I've found you, my other plans can wait."

I took a step forward; my hands were clenched into fists ready to go. I felt the presence of my 3 friends behind me. My issues with Aizen go back a few years. He blames me for getting held back in school a year, I blame him for my mothers' death. To say our hatred for each other was equal would be a far stretch from the truth. If I could kill Aizen I would, but instead I would rather him feel the pain he put me and my family through. I've always kept the incident to myself because I didn't need my family to know how it happened; all they needed to know was that she died trying to save someone else, which wasn't a complete lie.

It happened 4 years ago a few weeks before Christmas. I was a freshman in high school and Aizen was as sophomore. I had gone out with my mother to do some Christmas shopping for my sisters and dad. The roads were icy and the snow was coming down thick. My mom and I were making our way back to the train station when we heard some kids yelling. We walked over to where the noise was coming from. Some older kids were ganging up on Aizen. My mom told me to stay back as she went forward and interfered.

The next thing I saw was 15-year-old Aizen pushing my mom out into oncoming traffic, right in front of a garbage truck. The roads were too slick and it all happened too fast for the driver to be able to stop. Rage flooded though me and I had my hands wrapped around Aizens neck and I was slamming his head into the pavement.

Aizens injuries caused him to miss the remainder of the school year, which is why he was held back, but my mother, she died that night. I will never forgive him for what he did, and I will make him pay for it, everyday if I can.

"Oh my, 4 against 1? That doesn't seem fair Ichigo."

"As if I really give a damn about treating you fair!"

"Such hostility." Aizens' smirk grew into a full-blown smile. I couldn't hold myself back anymore. I lunged forward and my fist connected with the side of his face. Aizen fell back and I was on top of him. One punch after the other, I just kept hitting him. Blood started to flow from his lip and I was getting pleasure out of watching him bleed.

I went in for the final blow when I felt Chad and Ikkaku grab each of my arms.

"Come on dude, someone saw you and called the cops. We gotta get out of here before we get caught." I looked at Chad and nodded.

I wanted to go back for Rukia. I wanted to apologize to her and explain what was going on, but she didn't need this, she didn't need me. No matter how much I cleaned myself up and acted like a gentleman, the fact was that I am a delinquent with dreams of being with a princess.

The tiny bit of hope that I had left, that we just might be able to take our friendship to a different type of relationship, decided to make one last effort. I reach in my pocket for my cell phone and quickly type out a text message:

"_Rukia, I'm sorry for what happened tonight. I want to see you and explain. Please."_

I hit send and then vanished from the party with Chad, Ikkaku and Shuhei.

Back at the Prom…..

"Here you guys are, I've been looking all over the place for you. Let's go get a group shot of us before we get too messed up from dancing so much."

I had found Renji, Orihime, Rangiku and Tatsuki over at the drink table. From what I could see, Renji had a secret stash of some whiskey that he was attempting to pour into the punch bowl.

"Rukia! Where did you run off too? And were my eyes playing tricks on me, or was Ichigo here?" Orihime ask me with a huge grin on her face.

"Yeah, he **was** here, but him and his gang left already." I forced a smile so nobody could tell that I was disappointed. I figured that if I made them believe that I didn't care either way, and then maybe I'd start to believe it myself.

"Oh" Orihime said with a sad tone to her voice, "well, I guess then we have everyone here that is going to be in the group shot with us."

We walked over to the photo area and got in our typical photo order, Orihime on the end with Renji's arm around her waist, me next to Renji with his arm on my shoulder, and then Rangiku doing some sexy pose and Tatsuki on the other end with her arms crossed. This was the perfect night I was looking for. I didn't need Ichigo to make the night perfect, though, I still wanted him to be there. But for both my sanity and my heart, I have to keep him in the friend zone, that's the way it's supposed to be.

I feel my phone vibrate in my purse. I pull it out and see that I have a text message from Ichigo.

"_Rukia, I'm sorry for what happened tonight. I want to see you and explain. Please." _I sigh as I read this. Part of me wants to hear what he has to say, to see him, and try to start the night over, but the other part of me just wants to forget that the kiss ever happened. Part of me wants to forget that I had feelings for him and that I was so happy to see him at the prom.

I know that for tonight I decided that I was going to let my heart do the thinking instead of my head, but feeling hurt sucks. So I typed in my reply to Ichigo and sent it.

"_Don't worry about it Ichigo, really. Let's just pretend that tonight didn't happen okay? I'll see you at my graduation party." _

"Who was that? You're secret lover?" Renji peered over at me, invading my personal space.

"No, just Ichigo, I was reminding him about my graduation party since I probably won't see him again until then."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because these last 2 weeks of school I really need to focus, unlike someone I know." I glared at Renji and then we both started laughing.

"Alright, alright, well hey, since the gang is all here, why don't we see if there are anymore random bottles of champagne left in the limo and then continue this party in the hotel?"

Leave it to Renji to want to continue partying. We all agreed and split off into groups to get the necessary items needed. Rangiku and Tatsuki went off to see if they could round up a few people to bring up to the hotel room to party with, mostly for themselves, Orihime was on food duty, and Renji and I we on the hunt for more champagne.

Once Renji and I were alone I finally let me fake smile go and let me emotions come to the front on my face. Renji, of course, noticed right away.

"Alright Rukia, tell me what's going on."

"What are you talking about Renji?" Hoping that if I play dumb he'll drop it. Renji is only one of two people I can't keep things from if they ask me questions.

"You've been just a little off since you came back inside, and now that we're away from everyone it's written all over your face. I may be completely out of line here, but did something happen with Ichigo?"

I took a deep breath in and thought about my options. I could lie to Renji completely and tell him nothing happened, or I could slightly lie to Renji and just tell him that I was upset that Ichigo came to our prom and then didn't even bother to stay and hang out, or, and my least favorite option, I could just Renji that Ichigo and I kissed.

"Saved by the limo!" I shouted as we reached our limo. I knew Renji wasn't going to drop it, but I could at least stall him for a few minutes longer while I made my decision as to what I was going to tell him.

We searched the limo and found 2 more bottles. I wanted leave, thinking that for once Renji was going to drop a conversation, but instead he sat on the seat by the door and turned to look at me.

"We're not leaving this limo until you tell me what's going on." He placed on of his hands on my shoulder and looked at me.

My heart was racing and I knew I wasn't going to be able to lie to Renji.

"ICHIGO AND I KISSED! HAPPY NOW?" I didn't mean to shout it at him, but I couldn't help myself. I took my face into my hands to hide my face from Renji.

"And you're upset about this why? Granted you could definitely pick someone better to kiss, but it was just a kiss."

I mumbled through my fingers, "It wasn't just a kiss. There was so much emotion behind it; so much passion and I didn't want to stop. It was a complete and total mistake."

I looked up at Renji and saw the concern written on his face. He put his forehead on mine, closed his eyes and whispered to me.

"While I don't approve your choice in men, kissing you would never be a mistake."

Before I knew what was happening I felt Renji's lips on mine. This was wrong. It didn't feel right and I wanted him to stop.

I pushed Renji off of me as fast as I could.

"What the hell was that?"

"I just wanted to know what it was like, and you seemed so hurt by your kiss with Ichigo I figured if you had a good one you wouldn't be sad anymore."

"You have as girlfriend, and you can't just go around kissing people because they're sad. You can't go around kissing ME because I'm sad. Here…."

I handed the champagne bottles to Renji and pointed to the door.

"Take those and go to the hotel room. Spend the evening with your girlfriend and forget about this. I'm going home. I just need to get away from everything for a little while and get my head back on straight."

Renji just nodded and left. When did life get so complicated? When did my two closest friends become more than that to me? No. Renji is still just my best friend. What just happened was a bad judgment call on his part. I didn't want to kiss him and I most certainly did not kiss him back. Ichigo however, I don't know what his is right now. I don't want to know.

"Driver, could you please take me home?"

As the driver pulled out of the parking lot I glanced at my phone. I had no new messages. I wasn't really expecting one. I turned my phone off and decided to keep it off for the rest of the weekend.

….

"_Don't worry about it Ichigo, really. Let's just pretend that tonight didn't happen okay? I'll see you at my graduation party."_

She doesn't even want to hear my explanation. How is it possible for one girl to drive me so completely crazy?

I sighed as I read the text over and over again. Does she really want to just pretend that our kiss didn't happen? I know I wasn't the only one doing all the move making. I'm not going to give up on her, she means too much to me. Fuck! Why is it the one person I want I can't have?

Something was building inside of me. I didn't care how out of my league Rukia was. I didn't care what people thought about me. I was going to do it. I was going to go after the woman I wanted. I had 2 weeks to figure out how I was going to accomplish this, but I had no doubts about it now.

I'll see you at your graduation party Rukia, and you'll finally see me for who I'm meant to be.


	4. Chapter 4

The past two weeks had just flown by. I kept mostly to myself, in fear of running into Ichigo, or Renji, and to make sure I kept my high marks. Finally, graduation day had arrived and I was top of my class and graduating with honors.

I spent the morning mostly helping out around the house getting things set up for my party after the ceremony. Most of the people there were going to be my brothers' co-workers/employees, but I was going to have my group of friends there, as well as Ichigo. I was nervous about seeing him for the first time since prom. I know I had told him to just forget about what had happened, but that didn't mean I was going to forget about everything that had happened, no matter how hard I tried.

I put on my little black dress, pretty simple really, fitted at the bust and flared out just the tiniest bit and stopped just above my knee. I slipped on my yellow graduation gown and stepped into my black heels. I left my hair down and only applied mascara for makeup. Finally, I draped all of my sashes and cords around my neck and pinned on my graduation cap. I was ready.

The ceremony was pretty much exactly how I imagined it would be. Everyone following directions, smiling and laughing with each other. We sang the Alma Mater and I gave my valedictorian speech. It wasn't anything special, just a few paragraphs about looking towards our future. I think it went over pretty well as I saw a few people crying as I made my way back to my seat so they could start handing out the diploma's.

"Rukia Kuchiki"

I rose from my seat, walked up the stairs, across the stage and received my diploma. It felt so amazing to finally reach this goal in my life. I know I was going to be starting a new chapter of my life in a few months when I left for college, but it seemed that High School was my last step before I truly felt like I was entering adulthood. It felt great, but scary too.

I smiled towards my brother as I left the stage and returned to my seat to listen to the rest of the students' names called for them to receive their diplomas.

"Ladies and Gentleman! I present to you, the class of 2012!"

Cheers erupted and hats went flying into the air, I however choose to keep my securely fastened to the top of my head because I knew pictures were coming after this and I wanted to look my best.

"Hey Rukia! Great speech, I'm glad it was you up there talking and not some boring lame person." Renji smiled his same old smile and gave me a pat on the shoulder. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be. This made me happy.

"Yeah, well, I knew who I was talking to and didn't need to hear loud snoring coming from the back." I smiled and started to walk with Renji out the door to find the rest of our friends.

"We did it! I can't believe I am finally rid of this place. Though, it's a bit sad, I mean, now I have to actually go out and find hot boys, they aren't going to be parading around me all day anymore." Rangiku frowned just a bit until Tatsuki reminded her that college had many more boys to choose from. This seemed to make her all sorts of giggly.

"So Renji, is Orihime going to be able to make it to Rukias' party today?' Rangiku asked.

"Oh yeah, her graduation was the same time ours was and since her family only came back to town to watch they don't have anything planned for her afterwards."

"Nice, well then I guess I'll be seeing you all in a few hours." Rangiku waved as she walked off to her car.

"So are you going to head home now too, or did you just wanted to head over to my place now and get a head start on all the food and drinks?" I smiled at Renji, with just a hint of trouble in my eyes.

"Oh, I'm definitely heading over to your place now, there's no way I'm not going to be getting completely hammered at your house on our graduation night."

"I don't think my brother is going to appreciate you drinking at the house."

"What Byakuya doesn't know won't hurt him." Renji gave me a wink, ran off to his car and shouted "See you at your house in just a few!"

I laughed to myself as I made my way to find my brother so we could get our picture together while I was still in my cap and gown.

"There you are Rukia, you know it's rude to keep me waiting while you go off with your friends that you're going to see in just a few hours at the party."

It was pretty typical of my brother to be so formal about things and especially strict about manners.

"Forgive me. I did not realize that I had kept you waiting." I smiled at my brother and took my place beside him. He already had everything set up to take our picture together. My brother and I were very close, though it may not appear so to those on the outside. We've been through a lot together since the death of our parents. We were the only family we had.

"Oh, I picked up some books for you today. I think you will find them helpful to you this summer to start preparing for your college classes. I know you did very well in high school, but college is a whole different level of education and you need to be prepared."

"Thank you, I can't wait to see what you picked up for me and to start preparing for college. It's hard to believe that I won't be living at home in just a few months." I looked towards my brother with a smile on my face, but all I saw was the same composed look on his face. If I didn't know any better, I would've guessed that my brother did not know how to show emotion, however, he did have his moments.

"Well, I had better get going. There are a few details of your party left that I must attend to. I will see you at 4 o'clock sharp in the backyard to start thanking the guests for attending."

"Yes sir." And with that my brother was gone and I was left alone outside of my graduation. This wasn't exactly how I had imagined the after graduation to go, but I guess I really shouldn't have thought anything different was going to happen.

My thoughts, now that I was left alone with them, started to drift towards Ichigo. Did he have a good graduation as well? Did they even let him walk across the stage with the rest of his class, or would that be too much of a chance? What did he look like in his cap and gown? I wish I could've gotten a picture with him.

I sighed at the few thoughts I was having to myself when I saw a flash of orange on my right side. I turned and saw Ichigo standing there, in his royal blue gown.

"Ichigo?"

"Well, I don't suppose you know any other dashingly handsome, orange haired guys, do you?" Ichigo had a slight smile forming on his lips and from his light attitude around me I assumed he listened to what I had to say and just moved passed our kiss from prom.

"You know, I don't think I do." I smiled back at Ichigo. "So what are you doing here? Didn't your graduation just get over?"

"It did, but you see, I graduated not too far from here and thought, hey, it might be nice to see if I can catch Rukia before she heads home to get a picture with her in our cap and gowns."

I looked up at him with surprise in my eyes, "You pretty much just said exactly what I was thinking not just 5 minutes ago."

I stopped the next person walking by and asked if they could take a few pictures of us together. One picture with my phone, and then camera, and then one with Ichigos' phone.

"I'm really glad that you came over here to look for me. That was really nice of you."

"It was nothing. So I'm going to just run home real quick to change and then do you mind if I head over to your house a bit earlier?" Ichigos' eyes were looking deep into mine. There was something about them that made his question seem more like a plea than just a question.

"Of course you can come over a bit early. I think Renji might already be at my house. He's getting a head start on the food and beverages."

"Oh, yeah, I figured he'd be there early too." Ichigos' face turned almost sour with that statement, but quickly went back to a slight scowl.

Ichigo came a bit closer to me and took me in his arms, his very strong and warm arms.

"I'll see you in just a few then." It almost felt like he kissed the top of my head, but I'm sure I'm just imagining things.

"Okay, sounds good." I slowly left his embrace and looked up into his eyes. Something has changed within him. I didn't know if it was a good change or a bad change, but I definitely knew something was different.

"Hey, Rukia, what took you so long? I was starting to think that you got lost on your way back to your own house." Renji had 2 plates full of food, and his face was almost just as stuffed. He reminded me of a red headed chipmunk. I laughed to myself and shook my head.

"No, I didn't get lost. Ichigo showed up and we got our picture taken together."

"Oh, so you and Ichigo are talking again? When did this happen?"

"What do you mean we're talking again, we never stopped talking."?

"But after what happened at prom…."

"Is behind us, it was a mistake and we both have just decided to forget it even happened and move on."

"Just like that? And those words came out of his mouth?"

"Well, not exactly, but he certainly hasn't mentioned anything to me about it, and since he did come to find me after graduation to get a picture with me I'm going to assume he's moved past it just like I have."

"If you say so. I mean, I get that you two are good friends and all, but really Rukia? I mean, of all the people for you to choose to spend your time with, this is the kinda guy you choose?"

"Renji, are you seriously talking down about Ichigo right now? Let's not forget who kissed whom the night of prom and then went off to do who knows what with his girlfriend." I could feel my anger turning my face red. This was definitely not something I wanted to bring up here, or ever, but did I need to seriously defend my friendship with Ichigo to Renji? He had no claim over me.

"Alright, alright, I'll back off. I'm not talking down about him, it's just, well, there are better people out there for you to be invested in. Besides, he's not going anywhere. He's not going to college, and he'll never leave this town. Is that the type of person you really want hanging around you in your adult life? It's one thing for high school, but after?"

"Renji, I don't know what's going to happen between Ichigo and I now that high school is over and I'm going to be leaving in a few months, but to be completely honest, I don't know what's going to happen with most of my friends from high school from this point on. We are all growing up and going different directions. Maybe we'll stay in touch, maybe we won't, but I don't have to decide any of this now. Please don't ruin my party with your strange, jealous antics, please."

Renji's face seemed to soften a bit and I knew he understood what I was saying. Which is good because I felt like I was just rambling on.

I heard a knock on the door and then Ichigos' voice as one of the wait staff let him in. I turned to leave the kitchen to greet him but Renji beat me to it.

"Hey, Ichigo, haven't seen you since, ugh, prom was it? We didn't really talk, but I saw you at least. Where did you end up running off to anyway, and just between you and me, you really pissed off Rukia, though she isn't going to admit it."

I could feel my face change about 5 different shades of red as I stood there and listened to Renji say those things to Ichigo. I wanted to kill him, and then, I heard Ichigo respond.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure prom was the last time you would've seen me. I ended up leaving early, you know, didn't want to cause any trouble at your prom and ruin the evening for everyone. As for Rukia, she had every right to be pissed, and yes, it was my fault. I'm sure you already know what happened, but if you don't, then it's not my place to tell you. Excuse me." Ichigo stepped passed Renji and walked into the kitchen.

There I stood, in just my plain, black dress, barefooted and my face beat red. My heart was racing and I was so nervous that Ichigo was going to be mad. It shouldn't have matted but it did. No matter how much I wanted to keep Ichigo in the friend zone, my heart was still telling me, no, screaming at me to pull him closer to me.

I looked up and my eyes met his, he was smiling at me with both his eyes and his mouth. I would've thought Ichigo was going to show up in just a pair of jeans and a hoodie, but much to my surprise he had on a very nice pair of gray slacks, a white button up shirt and a gray jacket. He looked very nice.

"Hey."

"Hi." I smiled up at him as he once again wrapped his strong, warm arms around me. I knew this was only a friend hug, but how I never wanted him to let me go. Everything from the way he smelled to they way he felt against my body seemed so right. I allowed myself to wrap my arms around him and squeeze a little. I heard him sigh and it sent my heart racing again. I was pretty sure he could hear my heart beating in my chest.

"I do not think this is the appropriate time nor place for an embrace like that."

My eyes widened at the sound of my brothers voice. Crap! This was the last thing I ever wanted him to catch me doing with anyone, ever.

"So sorry brother." I removed myself from Ichigos' embrace. "You remember Ichigo, don't you brother?"

"Ah yes, the little trouble maker that lives a few streets away from here. My how you've grown in the past 4 years. I thought you moved since I didn't see you around here much after you two started high school."

"Mr. Kuchiki." Ichigo bowed his head towards my brother. "Yes, it has been quite some time since I've been here."

My brother simply nodded and walked away. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You. No matter how old or big you get, it always seems that you are still that 5 year old little boy scared to death of my older brother." I wrapped my arms around my stomach and started full belly laughing.

"I am not scared of your brother! I just simply wanted to show him some respect. That's all."

"Oh, okay, whatever helps you sleep at night Ichigo." I smiled up at him once more before I glanced over at the clock.

3:40 PM

"Ugh, I have to go change into something a bit more 'suitable' before everyone starts to arrive so I can greet them and thank them for attending my lovely party." I rolled my eyes and let out a laugh. Ichigo smiled and then took my hand.

"Rukia, sometime tonight, when you have a few minutes to spare, I need to talk to you about something."

"Well what is it? It won't take me long to change, in fact, just come upstairs with me and you can talk to me while I change in the bathroom."

"Um…I'd rather not." I could see the blush starting to form on Ichigos' cheeks.

"Oh come on! It's not like you've never been up to my room before." And with that I formed a grip with the hand that Ichigo was holding and dragged him upstairs with me. I closed the door behind us and ran into my closet to grab my more form fitting black and teal dress. It had straps that went over my shoulders and the bust area was a sheer teal color and the rest of the dress was black that went down to my knees. It wasn't a tight dress but it also didn't leave much to the imagination. I ran from my closet to the bathroom.

"Okay Ichigo, what did you want to talk about?"

His voice cracked just a bit, "Uh….um, well you see, I…"

He paused, I could hear him out in my room walking around, looking at things and sighing.

"Ichigo?"

"Sorry, I'm just not comfortable talking to you about this with you on the other side of a door."

"Talking about what? You haven't exactly said much to me."

His voice rose just a bit, "Look, I just don't want to be rushed into to this okay."

I was finished getting dress and I slowly opened the bathroom door to see Ichigo standing in the middle of my room, his face beat red and his hands balled into fists.

"Ichigo, I didn't mean to upset you, I guess I didn't realize that what you wanted to talk about was so important. Look, I changed pretty quickly and I've still got 15 minutes before I need to be downstairs so, let's sit down and you tell me what's going on."

I walked over to my bed, sat down and motioned to Ichigo to come sit next to me. He made his way over and sat right next to me. He was looking down now and I felt him grab my hand once more.

"Okay." He took a deep breath and looked up into my eyes. "Rukia, I don't want to forget about what happened on your Prom night between us. Yes, there are things that I wish I could change about some things from that night, but I never want to pretend that we didn't kiss."

The honesty in his eyes was undeniable. I was in shock. Was Ichigo for real right now? Or was my mind playing tricks on me like it had a thousand times before.

"Look Rukia, I realize that I am probably the last guy on earth you need in your life right now with you going off to college and all, but I care about you. I have for a while now, but you have always been, and will always been completely out of my league. I know I'm taking a huge risk right now that may cause us our friendship, but I want something more with you. I always feel at my best when I am around you, I'm happier when I am around you and you make everything that is so wrong with my life disappear." His eyes were searching my face for some sort of answer, but they weren't going to find one. I didn't even know how I felt about what he was saying. Don't get me wrong, I had been yearning to hear these words for a while now, but now that he is saying them, I don't know if I truly believe him.

"Rukia, please say something."

"I…. um…. I, I don't know what to say. Ichigo, I'm flattered but I just don't know if this is the best time…."

He dropped my hand and stood up before I could finish my sentence.

"It's okay Rukia, I get it. I'm going to head down to the party, I'll see you when you get down there."

What the hell Rukia! Why am I doing this? Of course I want to be something more with you too. Why can't I just tell him that? Why is this so hard?

"Ichigo wait." I stood up from my bed and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around him, looked up and said, "Right here, right now is not the best time for us to have this conversation because what I want to tell you is something that I want to celebrate with you once you've heard it. Please don't leave, and once the party dies down to where I can sneak away unnoticed, then we will continue this conversation and I will tell you what my heart has been saying for a while."

He smiled at me the sweetest smile I had ever seen from him. This was going to be a long party, but I knew it would be well worth it to wait until I didn't have another obligation to attend to. Also, I needed to prepare Renji. After all, he is my best friend and I tell him everything.

"Let's get this party going then."

I let Ichigo leave my room first and I followed him shortly after.

"Hello, thank you for coming to my graduation party, it really means a lot to me."

Ugh, finally the last person from what I could tell that was showing up. It only took me an hour of standing here. Man was I hungry!

I searched the party for my friends, and for Ichigo. I found all of them with ease, they were hanging out by the picnic table at the back of the yard.

"Hey! That took forever, but I'm free now and ready to enjoy myself."

Renji handed me a bottle, "Drink up buttercup, we're about to start playing truth or dare."

Renji smiled an evil smile at me and I had a bad feeling about this.


	5. Chapter 5

"Seriously Renji? Truth or Dare?"

"Yes, I'm serious. Look, this is probably one of the last times we are all going to be together like this so we might as well have a little fun. Besides, your great friend Ichigo is here to play with us, I'm sure he'd like to hear some of your secrets or see your wild side come out."

It was apparent that Renji had started drinking a while ago, and I'm not talking about a soda. I didn't like seeing him like this, especially with what happened between us at prom and the argument we had a few hours ago about Ichigo. Though, in all reality I didn't have anything to hide and this party could use some life, since most of the people were here to schmooze my brother rather than pay attention to me.

"Okay, let's play." I tilted the bottle up and drank my share. This wasn't exactly in character for me, but I was celebrating and considering the current company I was in, I needed some liquid encouragement.

I glanced over at Ichigo while I was drinking and noticed him looking very intently at something, but he wasn't looking at me. I followed his stare and noticed that him and Renji were having some sort of strange stare down, and apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Okay you two, if you like looking at each other so much, why don't you just go grab one of the rooms in the house?" Rangiku leaned across the table between the two of them and reached towards the bottle I was holding. Ichigo and Renji stopped glaring at each other and it was time to start the game.

I sat down at the table. It was Renji on my left and Ichigo on my right. On the other side of the table, Orihime sat across from Renji, Rangiku across from me, and Tatsuki across from Ichigo. We were far enough back in the yard that nobody could hear us, and there were enough trees to hide anything we might end up getting dared to do, but my intuition was still telling me that this was not going to end well.

"Alright, well since this was my idea, I think I'll go first." Renji got a mischievous smile and zeroed in on Orihime.

"Orihime, I choose you. Truth or Dare?" Orihime blushed a bit at the tone of his voice.

"Um…well, I'm not really all that adventurous so, truth." We all pretty much expected this out of her, so I'm sure Renji was prepared with a good question.

The same smile widened on his face, "Truth? Alright, Orihime, how do feel about what happened between us after prom?"

Orihimes' eyes widened and her face turned red. "Renji! That isn't something I'm willing to talk about, especially in front of all our friends."

Renji was shaking his head, "That's not how the game is played my dear. You chose truth and you have to answer the question truthfully, whether you want to or not. Otherwise you don't have to play at all and can just leave."

So, Renji was going to be a mean drunk tonight. We all couldn't believe the way he was treating Orihime right now and I was about to speak up when Orihime spoke instead.

"Well, Renji, I don't really like you very much right now because of how mean you are being, but I don't want to leave either so I'll answer your question. What I feel about what happened between us after prom is that it was very special and made me happy. I knew I wanted it to be with you and I don't regret a single moment, and I will always remember it."

One tear rolled down her cheek while she spoke. None of us believed that she was going to answer the question and now that she did, there was nothing any of us could do to protect her from Renji, because in that moment he knew he could get anything from her just by threatening to exclude her. I didn't like Renji very much right now either, and he was my best friend.

Rangiku turned to Orihime and said, "That was very brave of you. Now it's your turn to pick someone." Orihime wiped her cheek and looked up at the rest of us like nothing had just happened.

"Okay, um, I choose Tatsuki. Truth or Dare?"

Tatsuki was happy that Orihime chose her. "I choose Dare."

"Oh, alright. Um, Tatsuki, I dare you to go give that guy over there a hug." Orihime pointed to an older gentleman standing by the bar. Tatsuki shot a sour face towards Orihime before she stood up, walked straight up to the man at the bar, wrapped her arms around him and then walked back to our table.

We were all laughing, because if any of us knew Tatsuki at all, while she was daring, she definitely was not one to walk up to strange men and show any sort of affection.

"Oh, so that was funny or something? Fine, Rangiku, I choose you, Truth or Dare?"

Rangiku smiled, she loved to be the center of attention, and all eyes were on her.

"Dare. And make it good Tatsuki."

Tatsukis' eyes searched the yard, looking for something, anything she could dare Rangiku to do to embarrass her. Finally, she spotted exactly what she wanted.

"Rangiku, I dare you to go over to that woman standing behind Byakuya, and grab her ass."

"WHAT!"

"You heard me"

We all stated chuckling. Rangiku wasn't shy about much, when it came to boys, but when it came to women, she was just about as shy as Orihime was around boys. We all turned around to enjoy what was about to happen.

Rangiku slowly made her way over to the woman, making sure to stop along the way to flirt. Once she finally made it over there is was like watching someone swat at a bee that was in their face and run away from it. It was priceless. The best part, however, was when the woman grabbed Rangikus' wrist, pulled Rangiku towards her and gave her a huge hug. We all almost fell off of our seat as Rangiku walked back to us, her face bright red.

"I hate you Tatsuki!"

"But is was so worth it!" Tatsuki said through a hearty belly laugh.

"My turn. Since it seems the ladies are attacking the ladies, Rukia, truth or dare?"

Ugh, it was my turn. Okay, do I feel like being adventurous, or do I just want to reveal something? Well, considering my brother is here, probably watching me, I had better go with the safe option.

"Truth."

"Ugh, Rukia, you are no fun. I even had something really good planned for you. Maybe once your brother leaves you'll be more willing?" It was like she was reading my mind.

"Well, see. So, what's your question?"

Rangikus' eyes darted around at everyone and landed on Ichigo, she smiled, "Okay, Rukia, tell us what your relationship with Ichigo is, you know, with him coming to prom just for you and all, there has to be something going on?"

I could feel the color leaving my face. I wanted to discuss my feelings with Ichigo in private and I certainly didn't want Renji to be here since he obviously disapproves of Ichigo no matter what kind relationship I had with him. So I answered the safest, but most honest way I knew how.

"It's still developing." There, that doesn't tell them what my feelings are, but tells them enough to know that we aren't 'just friends.'

"Oh no, that is not an answer Rukia. We need some details. Rumor has it that you and Ichigo shared a bit more than words outside of prom on a bench."

I stood up out anger. How the hell did she know about that? Nobody was supposed to know about that except for Ichigo, Renji and myself.

"Where the hell did you hear that? It's not true, we're just friends!" I immediately regretted the words that came out of my mouth and tried to correct myself, "What I mean is, ugh, fine, it happened okay. Happy now? I'm still trying to figure things out and didn't need anyone interfering." I sat back down and folded my arms across my chest.

Orihime, Rangiku, and Tatsuki were all beaming at me, Ichigo stared at me blankly and Renji was fuming next to me.

"Wow Rukia, I had no idea you had that much emotion inside of you. I'm satisfied with your answer, for now." Rangiku smiled at me and winked, I knew that the topic was only just beginning and I was not going to escape it.

"Is it my turn now?" Everyone nodded and I didn't know whom to choose. Ichigo or Renji? Who to pick to either ask a question to or dare? Let's see, I can pick Ichigo and he'll probably pick dare, so I can just have him do something that will lighten the mood, or I can pick Renji, and I have no idea what he will choose to do and he's being mean.

"Ichigo, truth or dare?" I guess he wasn't expecting me to choose him because he was startled when I turned to him and said his name.

"Uh, dare I guess."

Thank you Ichigo. "Okay, I dare you to yell at the top of your lunges, 'I love rainbows and unicorns." I smiled as his face turned to a scowl.

He didn't even take time to think about the dare; instead he took a deep breath and shouted, "I LOVE RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS!"

This caused everyone at the party to momentarily turn and look in our direction. My eyes met my brothers and I could see the anger in his eyes, but instead of coming over and verbally punishing all of us, he returned back to his conversation.

I started laughing and so did everyone at the table. Even Renji let out a chuckle.

"Alright, I guess that just leaves me to choose Renji, is that how the game is working? Everyone has to have a turn?" We all nodded in agreement.

"Truth or dare Renji?" It was obvious that Ichigo didn't really have any cares about Renji, all he knew is that Renji and I were best friends and that's it, so he was pretty indifferent to him, though for tonight, Renji was slightly on his bad side with how he treated Orihime.

Renji on the other hand, I knew he didn't like Ichigo. As far as I know, he never has. Renji scowled at Ichigo and answered, "Truth."

"Truth, alright, do you even care about Orihime?" Renji was taken aback by Ichigos' question. I honestly don't know what Ichigo was thinking by asking Renji that, but I figured that since Orihime was his friend then he must feel a little protective of his friends being pushed around or embarrassed by their significant other.

"What kind of question is that carrot top? What goes on between Orihime and I is none of your damn business!"

"Well, you made a point to force Orihime to answer a question about the two of you that should've been kept private, so I'm just returning the favor." Ichigo gave Renji a smug smile.

Renji scoffed, "Fine, yeah, I care about her. That answers your question so no; I'm not going to elaborate. Rukia, truth or dare?"

Ichigo just shook his head and clenched his hands into fists. Renji was starting to get on his nerves.

I looked at Ichigo quickly before I turned back to Renji to give him my attention; Ichigo was definitely not in a good mood anymore.

"Oh, me so soon again. Well, I guess I'm going to continue to be lame and go with truth." Especially with Ichigos' outburst from my dare, there was no way I was going to do anything to draw attention to myself.

Renji smiled, but it wasn't quite right, "Tell us the truth Rukia, who's the better kisser, Ichigo or me?"

My heart started to race and all of a sudden I felt nauseous. How could he ask me something like that? I know if I lied he would call me out on it, Renji was drunk and apparently didn't care about hurting anyone tonight. I glanced to my right at Ichigo and he was fuming, I could see his knuckles turning white. Rangiku and Tatsuki were staring at me with their mouths opened and Orihime, I felt horrible. She was looking down at her hands in her lap and I could tell she was playing with the hem of her dress. I was not a mean person and I definitely didn't want to hurt her, or Ichigo. I looked at Ichigo again. Our friendship was evolving into something else, something more, I didn't know if this was something I wanted, but I also didn't want anything to ruin what could happen. Ichigos' eyes finally met mine and I could see the hurt in his eyes. I really didn't want to hurt him, especially since this was my last summer at home and I wanted this to be a good one.

After what felt like an hour, which really was just a mere few seconds, I finally answered Renjis' question.

"Well, Renji, it's hard to compare two completely different things, especially when one was wanted and the other was forced. I mean, basically you are asking me to compare a horrible mistake to a dream come true. So to answer your question, honestly, there is no contest because I only have one kiss that I count as a kiss and that belongs to Ichigo."

Renji was furious and he moved his face to about 6 inches away from mine before he spoke, quite loudly, "So you mean to tell me that when we kissed, not even an hour after your makeout session with Ichigo, that meant nothing to you! What are you, some sort of whore now? Willing to give it up to anyone now?"

Renji then stood up and pointed a finger at Ichigo. "You did this to her, you made her into a whore! I bet you did way more than just kiss that night too."

I felt myself being pushed into the table and then saw Ichigo and Renji exchanging punches.

"Stop!" I was screaming, but it seems as if they couldn't hear a word I was saying. My brother and some other guys at the party ran over to break it up. I figured they could handle Ichigo and Renji, so I turned my attention to Orihime.

"Orihime I'm so sorry" She cut me off by putting her hand up. I could tell that she was beyond upset, and who could blame her? She just lost her virginity to Renji two weeks ago, only to find out that he was kissing someone else right before it happened.

"Rukia, I thought you of all people would've told me if Renji were to ever cheat on me. I never thought you would be the one he was cheating on me with." Tears started to stream down her cheeks. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to be able to comfort her and tell her that everything would be all right, but at this moment in time, regardless of how the kiss happened, I was the bad guy. I was half the reason she was in so much pain.

"I know," was all I mustered to speak. Now was not the time to defend myself and blame Renji for everything. This wasn't about me. Orihime walked away crying with Rangiku and Tatsuki following behind her. They both gave me knowing looks, that they understood I wasn't completely the bad guy, so in turn I gave them a look that said go with her, make sure she is going to be okay.

However, I also needed a friend right now, but unfortunately right now, both of my closest friends were fighting each other.

"You fucking bastard! How could you ever think that I would lay a hand on Rukia like that without her permission? And outside in a public area!"

"Well you pretty much are the scum of the earth, who knows how many women you've been with or even what kinds of diseases you have. If I ever catch you around Rukia ever again, even looking at her I will rip you fucking limb from limb, you hear me!"

Ichigo and Renji were still trying to fight each other even with three guys holding each of them. They kept yelling insults at each other until my brother finally spoke up.

"Shut your mouths, the both of you! I don't know what has been going on, but from this moment on, both of you are banned from my home and my property. As far as Rukia is concerned, I'll let her make her own decisions about the two of you, but for the time being, she is not allowed to have contact with either of you."

Both of them respected my brother enough to pipe down when he started speaking. Ichigo and Renji were escorted off of the property and I was left standing in shock with all that had happened.

"Rukia, I am very disappointed in the company you keep. I assume you heard what I had to say to Renji and Ichigo, but if not let me sum it up for you, I need your phone and your car keys."

I gave up my phone and car keys as he asked and did not protest.

"You will remain at the house for at least the next week. Once you have personally apologized to each and every one of the guests that were here, using the house phone, I will return you your keys, which then you may only use your car to go to the library to prepare for your first semester, or to go grocery shopping. Once I decide, and only when I decide, that you are capable of making better judgment calls on the friends you decide to have in your life will I return your cell phone. As far as any sort of romantic relationship that may or may not have been happening between you and either or both of those boys, that ends tonight. I will not have your mind cluttered over boys when you need to be focused on your future. We have a plan and I intend to make sure you stick to it. Do you understand?"

I understood perfectly. My last summer here in this town with the only friends I did have is officially over. My life of following in my brothers' footprints has begun. I simply had to drop any feelings I may have had for Ichigo and forget that I ever had them. I felt the tears fall from my eyes.

"I understand brother, I'm sorry for the scene I caused this evening. I will start calling the guests in the morning to apologize."

My brother nodded and then walked away. I felt like my heart had just been ripped out of my chest. I dropped down to my knees, covered my face with my hands and let myself cry. I didn't care who heard me or who saw.

20 minutes must've passed before I calmed down. I wiped my face dry, stood up and started to walk back to the house.

"Psst, Rukia"

I turned around to face the dark yard, but couldn't see anyone.

"Hello?"

"Rukia, it's Ichigo."

My heart started racing again, but not out of fear or anger this time, but because I nervous.

"Where are you?"

"I'm over here in the bushes, behind the table."

I walked over to the bushes and there he was. His face was starting to bruise and some blood had dried on the side of his face.

"Ichigo, what are you doing here? If my brother catches you you'll be dead."

"I know, but you said that you wanted to talk to me after the party had quieted down and you could sneak away. Well, I don't think it's going to get any quieter than this."

"Ichigo, I really don't think it's a good idea."

He took my hand in his, stood up from the bushes and leaned towards me. I knew I should stop him but I wanted this. Lightly his lips brushed mine. I parted my lips to let him explore my mouth more with his tongue. I felt his other hand cup my face has he started to move his lips more aggressively. I moved closer to him, never letting our lips part. I clenched his shirt with my hand as I voiced a tiny moan.

I wanted him. I don't care what my brother says. I know we have all these plans about my future, but plans can change and be altered. It was at this moment I wanted to consider including Ichigo into my future plans.

Ichigos' lips left mine. I moved forward in hopes that I could join them again, but he moved his hands to my shoulders to keep me at a distance.

"I just wanted to make sure that I had kissed you more times than Renji."

A smile formed on his beaten face and it warmed my heart. I knew it was time to explain what had happened with Renji.

"Ichigo, about Renji and I"

"It doesn't matter Rukia, honestly. What does matter is how do you feel about me?"

Before I could answer I heard my name being called by my brother, and his voice was getting closer.

"Ichigo, you have to leave."

"But what about your answer to my question?"

"Tomorrow, I'll tell you tomorrow. Come back here after 10 pm, my brother will be asleep and we can talk then."

"Tomorrow then."

He gave me a quick kiss and then was gone.

"Rukia, what are you doing, I've been calling you."

"Sorry, I was just trying to gather my thoughts to prepare for tomorrow."

"Very well, come inside already, it's late."

I followed my brother inside, desperate for it to be tomorrow night.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello Everyone! First, I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and reviewing my story! It really means a lot to me that so many people like it and take the time to make suggestions. This is my first story EVER and I'm finding the chapters are harder to write as the story progresses, but no worries, I will see this story through until the end.

And since I've basically left this out of every other chapter except for the first one:

**DISCLAMIER**: I do not own bleach or the characters.

"Hi, this is Rukia Kuchiki. I just wanted to call and apologize about the disruptive behavior last night at my graduation party that my brother so generously hosted and thank you again for coming. Hope you have a great rest of your day."

I hung up the phone and crossed the last name off of the list of people I had to call. Thankfully most people weren't home this time of day on a Sunday so I got to leave quite a few messages.

I made my way upstairs to inform my brother that I had finished calling all of the guests.

I knocked on the door of his office, "Brother?"

"Come in."

I walked into his office and stood at the end of his desk before I spoke.

"I have finished calling all of the guests who attended last night, with the exception of my friends per your instructions."

"Very well. I will allow you to have your keys back, however, you must inform me before you leave and where you are going, as well as what time you expect to return. Remember, grocery shopping and the library are the only acceptable outings at this time."

"Thank you brother. May I please run out to the grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner?"

He nodded and handed me my keys. I understand that he has my best interests in mind, but I don't think he realizes that all he's really accomplishing is suffocating me. The more he puts down the rules the more I can't wait to leave, and never come back. Leaving for college never looked so good. Making a trip to the grocery store has never been so inviting.

I was pretty limited on time; my brother had given me 30 minutes. I was in the produce area when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a tall man behind me. He looked familiar but couldn't figure out why.

"Excuse me miss, I couldn't help but notice you, have we met before?"

"I don't think so." I said as politely as I possibly could and turned away.

"I think you are mistaken, I believe you know a friend of mine, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

I turned back to face the man and finally realize I knew where I had seen him before.

"I didn't realize that you two were friends, especially with the last encounter you had."

"Oh, on the contrary, we're quite close. In fact, I have something that belongs to him; it's out in my car. I assume you will probably see him before I do, would you mind delivering his belongs to him?"

"I'm sorry but I really don't have the time and I highly doubt I'll see him anytime soon." This was a lie, but I didn't need anyone to know that I was going to secretly meet Ichigo tonight. Besides, this guy was giving me the creeps and I didn't trust him.

"I see. We'll he'll be disappointed but I suppose if you aren't willing to do just this tiny favor for your good friend I understand. It's too bad though, he told me he really needed it back soon, something about it was important to him and he couldn't believe he had lost it."

"What do you mean it's important to him? What is it?"

"It's not something I can describe, you'd have to see it."

My curiosity got the better of me, and I was in a public place, I don't think I had anything to worry about.

"Okay, well let me finish up my shopping and then I'll come out to your car. What does it look like?"

"I'll just wait outside for you."

The stranger walked away and I realized I forgot to catch his name. I'm pretty sure I had heard it before though, but I couldn't think of it at the moment.

Part of me still was a little uneasy about the whole situation, so I paid for my groceries and asked one of the bag boys to help me out with my groceries. We stepped outside and I saw the guy leaning against a pillar outside of the store.

"Okay, let's get this item out of your car, I don't really have a lot of time and this employee here can't spend all day outside helping me."

I smiled a little in his direction and could tell that he was not pleased that I had brought an additional person out to help me.

"Oh, yeah, well, I just remembered that I have somewhere to be. Maybe I'll bump into Ichigo and can just give it to him then."

He turned and walked away. I turned to the boy next to me, "Well, my car is just over there."

"That guy seemed a bit sketch, do you know him?"

This kid pretty much read my mind.

"No, I don't know him, but apparently we have a mutual friend."

"Well, not to tell you how to go about your business, but if I were you, I'd stay away from him."

I simply smiled at the boy and unlocked my trunk for him to start putting my groceries in it. The drive home gave me time to think about what had happened at the store. It was a bit strange, but I really didn't know that guy, or anything about him, but he seemed to know Ichigo and why would he tell me he had something of Ichigos' if he really didn't?

So many thoughts were running through my head that I hadn't realized that I was already at home. My brother came down the stairs off of the porch and knocked on my window.

"Rukia? Is everything alright?"

Slightly startled I replied, "Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

"You've been sitting in your car for almost ten minutes."

"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about what happened at, um, last night. Just replaying the events to figure out where it went downhill."

"I see, well, no use wasting time on thinking about the past, time to move forward."

He turned and went back into the house, almost as quickly as he had emerged.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon up in my room. I told my brother that I was reading, but really I was trying to find something to wear for tonight. I know that Ichigo and I have already had a few moments together, but tonight felt different. As if tonight everything was going to change between us. I was excited. I looked over at the clock, 6:45…damn; I still had 3 ½ hours until Ichigo would show up. Guess I should try to get a little nap in, who knows how late I'm going to be up.

There was an odd tapping at my window that woke me up. I turned to look at the clock, 10:15. SHIT! I didn't even bother to look at myself in the mirror before I rushed out of my room. I stopped as soon as I exited, realizing that my brother might still be awake and if he hears me there is definitely no way he'd let me run outside. I tiptoed down the hall and then down the stairs to the patio door. Quietly I slipped outside.

There he was. Bright orange hair, perfectly muscular body and those brown eyes that could see into my soul. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a red t-shirt and a black zip up hoodie that was opened.

I waved and motioned to him to move towards the back of the yard so nobody, meaning my brother, might be able to hear our voices. I lead the way and could feel him getting closer to me each step.

We reached the same spot we were in last night. I suddenly felt his arms around my waist and his head nuzzled in my neck.

He whispered, "I missed you."

A smile grew on my face. How is it possible for someone to make me feel this way? I turned my body in his arms and we were now face to face. It would've been the perfect time to embrace him and let our lips collide. I guess he was thinking the same thing too because his face was starting to approach mine, and then I spoke.

"I ran into that guy from the prom at the grocery store today, he told me that he has something of yours and that it needed to be returned. Did he ever get it to you?"

That stopped Ichigo immediately.

"What do you mean that guy from the prom?" His eyes were stern and his grip on my waist was tightening.

"You know, that guy that sort of interrupted us on the bench."

"Aizen?"

"I thought I knew what his name was but couldn't think of it at the time. Yes, that was him."

"Look Rukia, I don't know what he said to you, but Aizen and I are not friends, never have been, never will be. I want you to stay as far away from him as possible. Do you understand?" This look in his eyes, it was unnerving and I didn't like it. He almost reminded me of my brother at that moment, giving me orders.

I brought my hand up to his chest and pushed myself away from him.

"Look Ichigo, I don't know what is going on between you and him, but don't give me orders as if I belong to you."

"Rukia, he's bad news. I'm not giving you orders, but please, do not go near him, do not talk to him and if he approaches you run away. Please!"

He was starting to raise his voice and I could see his anger turning into fear and then back to anger. This is not how I wanted tonight to go at all. Part of me just wanted to forget this conversation and start kissing him, but the other part of me wanted nothing to do with this whole situation and this boy standing in front of me. I started to shake my head.

"Ichigo, let's just drop it okay. This is not what I wanted to talk to you about tonight."

"Yeah, okay. I just"

"No. This has been dropped and it's your turn to listen to me talk. Got it?"

Ichigo nodded his head in agreement and took my hands into his.

"Okay. So, I don't really know where to start. Ichigo, we've known each other practically our whole lives and somewhere, somehow, my feelings for you started to change. They are still very new to me, especially since I've never felt these feelings before about anyone. I don't know how to explain them, but I do know that I don't want them to go away. I don't want you to go away. I know that this isn't part of my plan and come the end of summer all of this probably won't matter anymore, but" and I paused, took a deep breath, looked into his sexy brown eyes, "I want to be with you Ichigo, in a way that I've never been with anyone, ever. I want to experience so much with you."

There, that was everything I could think of. To the best of my ability I had just bared my heart and soul to him. Please feel the same way. Instead of speaking though Ichigo just smiled and pulled me to him.

His lips were so warm, so soft. I opened my mouth a bit more to allow his tongue to dance on my bottom lip. I reached up and grabbed his shoulder. I let out a tiny moan and knew that I didn't need to worry about being interrupted this time. One of Ichigos' hands was around the small of my back while the other was gripping the back of my head. I felt him pick me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our lips never parting and our breath only growing faster.

I soon felt Ichigo lay me down on the grass, his body hovering above mine. I released my legs from his waist and he lowered himself on top of me. Our entire bodies were touching and I could feel every inch of my own yearning to feel more of him. Slowly I could feel Ichigo starting to move his hips. As much as my body wanted this, I quickly pushed Ichigos' lips away from my own.

"Ichigo, please, not like this." My heart was racing and it took everything I had to tell him no.

Ichigo just smiled and kissed my forehead. "Don't worry Rukia, I will never push you any further than you want to go, and I don't want our first time to be in your backyard either."

I grinned and let out a tiny giggle.

"Ichigo, I think I should probably head back inside. Now that I have my car back, do you want to meet somewhere tomorrow? And when I say somewhere I mean either the grocery store or the library?"

"I think the library could be fun."

"Yeah, and I'll probably have more time to spend there than at the store. How does 11 work for you?"

"Great. I'll see you at 11 at the library."

Ichigo helped me up from the ground and dusted my backside off. He wrapped his arms around me again and kissed the top of my head.

"Who would've thought that I'd get to be the lucky guy kissing you this way?"

I wanted to answer Ichigo with a question, but he quickly let go of me a disappeared into the darkness.

I snuck back into the house and up to my room. My body was still tingling from Ichigo being on top of me, and then it hit me, '_I don't want our first time to be in your backyard either'_. Whoa, had Ichigo really been thinking about having sex with me tonight? I mean, I knew that it could've been a possibility with the way things were going, but I had no idea that was what was on his mind. I felt my face turn red and it was time to realize that I was going to end up sleeping with Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ichigos' POV

Damn Aizen. When I find you, you had better hope that you have all your friends around you.

I walked the streets after I left Rukias' house. Damn she was perfect. Everything I could ever want and eager too. I definitely don't want to rush things with her, but the fact that it probably could've happened tonight, man, just blows my mind. I, Ichigo Kurosaki, am Rukia Kuchki's boyfriend. Or at least I think I am.

I thought I would've made it home by now, but I guess my thoughts had let me wander to the last place I really wanted to be. I ended up at the abandoned warehouse where, funny enough, Aizen hangs out. And there he was, standing outside, as if he knew I was coming.

"Well, Ichigo, I guess you saw your little girlfriend and she told you about our encounter today?"

"I don't know what you're playing at Aizen, but stay away from her."

"Is that a threat?"

"Just do it!"

"You won't always be around to protect her you know, and she won't always be in such a public area. Now that I've found out what you hold most dear to you, you can pretty much bet that I won't stop until I've taken everything away from you."

Only Aizen can get my blood to boil like it is. I took everything I had to not pound his face in right there on those steps. I turned back to him, my fists clenched, only to see some dumb smirk on his face.

"Run along now Ichigo. You have a busy day tomorrow. The question is, who will meet her at the library first tomorrow?" Aizens' eyes darkened as he said that, then he turned and walked away.

What the fuck? How does he know about the library? I have to let Rukia know, but how? Fuck!

I'll just get up earlier tomorrow and be at the library at 10:30, there's no way she would show up that early and I can be there when she arrives. Aizen won't have a chance to do anything to her.

Rukias' POV

My alarm went off at 9, I wanted to have plenty of time to eat breakfast, get ready, and most importantly, convince my brother to allow me to go to the library today.

"Good morning brother."

"Ah, Rukia, I'm glad you're up. Listen, I got a phone call this morning from a colleague who's son needs some summer tutoring in order to better prepare him for his up coming college semester. I let him know that you would be more than happy to help."

All joy I had for today went out the window. Did my brother really just ruin my entire day without even knowing that I wanted to go to the library?

"Oh, um, that's fantastic. Are we starting tomorrow?" Hoping that I would be correct.

"No, as a matter of face, he's on his way now. With your episode yesterday in the car I figured you two could ride over together and then he could bring you home after lunch."

"I see."

I sat down at the table and ate my breakfast. At 10am there was a knock at the door. My brother answered it.

"Rukia, your student is here to take you to the library."

I walked to the door and there he stood, Aizen.

"You!"

I didn't mean to sound so harsh, but how was this possible.

"Rukia! That is no way to speak to our guest or your pupil. Please forgive my sister's rudeness."

"It doesn't bother me one bit Mr. Kuchiki, I'm just so glad I'm able to get help from Rukia to prepare for college."

"Well, I don't want to delay you two getting to the library. I expect to have her home by 2pm."

"Yes sir, Mr. Kuchiki."

I walked out the door, my mind full of questions. I got into Aizens' car, feeling my brothers' eyes on my every step that I took.

"What kind of game are you playing at Aizen? I know who you are and that you and Ichigo are not friends."

He just turned to me and smiled.

"Let's just say I make a habit of taking away everything Ichigo holds dear in this world, and you my little kitten, are on the top of that list."

"Look buddy, I don't know who you think you are, but people are not property and you can't just take me, I won't let you."

"Oh, I don't want to date you, I just simply am going to ruin you, and then Ichigo will want nothing to do with you ever again."

"What do you mean, ruin me?"

The library was not that far from my house, so we had just pulled in and Aizen had parked as far away from the entrance as he possibly could. It was only 10:15, and Ichigo and I were not supposed to meet for another 45 minutes.

Aizen put the car in park and turned the engine off. He then looked at me with his evil eyes.

"To put it simply Rukia, no man wants damaged goods."

Before I could open the door or even let out a scream, Aizen had both of my hands in one of his and his other hand covered my mouth.


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope nobody is too disappointed with the direction I decided to go :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own bleach or its' characters**

* * *

Ichigos' POV

Beep…Beep…Beep

I turned to look at my alarm clock, 9am. I had to make sure I got to the library early just in case Aizen decided to pull something today. I can't believe I got Rukia mixed up with my problems. This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

The hot water woke me up immediately and I was ready to tackle the day. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and ran downstairs to eat some breakfast. I peeked over at the clock when I got into the kitchen, 9:45am. I'm doing pretty good on time. My sisters were in the kitchen, but for some reason everyone was quite this morning.

"Brother? Are you okay?"

I looked over at my sister Yuzu, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, you just seem really tense this morning."

I guess I wasn't going to hide my anxiousness from anyone today.

"Oh, I see, we'll don't worry about okay. I gotta get going, I'll see you later."

I waved and bolted out the door, not really wanting to have to explain anything to my sister. I looked down at my watch, 10am.

Well, I guess it's better to be extremely early and have nothing happen than be late and have Rukia already there and Aizen be there too. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the library from my house. Not too shabby since I walked. I made my way to the front door, but decided that I should wait outside for Rukia, especially since I wanted to keep an eye out for Aizen.

I made my way around the building, didn't see much of anything, and then searched the parking lot. There he was. Parked at the back end of the parking lot was Aizens' car. Why wait. I'll just head over there now and make it known to him that I'm not going to let him do anything to hurt Rukia.

Something wasn't right about Aizens' car, it was moving, but the engine was off. What the hell. I was still walking towards his car when I saw Rukia stumbling out of the passenger side.

"RUKIA!" Her shirt was torn, her hair completely messed up and blood on her face.

Rukias' POV

I felt completely helpless. Aizen had a hold of my hands and I couldn't scream for help. Of all the things in the world that could happen to me, this was not one of the things I had ever thought would be possible.

I warm tear trickled down my face as Aizens' lips grazed my neck.

My brother did not raise me to be weak, or helpless. All I needed was an opening. I was not going to let this happen to me. Aizen will not make me damaged goods.

It took everything I had to pry my hands free of Aizens' grip, but I did. As soon as he felt my hands leave his he immediately hit me across the face. I lunged forward and wrapped my hands around his throat. He grabbed my by the shoulders and slammed me into the steering wheel and dashboard of the car, causing my head to hit the windshield, but it was going to take more than that to weaken me. I sent my elbow to his face, making contact with his cheekbone.

"You bitch!" Aizen shouted as he threw me back and grabbed a hold of my shirt. It was a button up shirt so it easily ripped with the amount of force he used. My torso and bra were completely exposed, but I didn't have time to worry about that. Aizen was on top of me again, but this time only his hand on my mouth. His other hand was undoing his own pants, and he just took each hit I was throwing at him. Then it hit me. Renji had bought me some mace for my birthday that he told me I had to keep in my purse at all times. I fumbled around in my purse with one hand as I kept slapping away his hand from my pants. Got it.

"Fuck you Aizen!" And I sprayed the mace directly into his eyes. Aizen fell back grabbing his eyes and yelling. I opened the car door and stumbled out of the car.

"RUKIA!" I looked towards and voice and saw Ichigo. He was running towards me and didn't even attempt to slow down as his body collided with mine. His arms were so warm around my trembling body.

He took my face in his hands, "Rukia, are you okay? What happened?"

I couldn't stop them, the tears that streamed down my face. I pointed inside of the car and before I even mustered up a sound Ichigo was already tearing Aizen from the car. Ichigo had him slammed up against the side of the car.

"What the fuck were you trying to do Aizen?"

"Oh, I wasn't trying, I was succeeding." A smirk formed on Aizens' face, even though his eyes were closed and extremely irritated.

Ichigo punched Aizen in the face and then looked at me.

"All he managed to do was get in a few kisses on my neck, rip my shirt and hit my face. He didn't succeed in anything."

Ichigos' face turned from angry to relieved. Relieved that Aizen didn't really hurt me, or succeed in his horrible plan.

"Aizen, I think it's about time you go away, permanently."

Ichigo pulled out his cell phone and began to dial.

"Hello, my name is Ichigo Kurosaki and I would like to report an assault."

"No mam', I was a witness, I have the young woman with me who was attacked and I have the attacker pinned on the ground."

"I'm in the parking lot of the library, we won't move or do anything else until the cops arrive. Thank you so much for helping."

Ichigo hung up and put his phone back into his pocket.

"Looks like the cops are on their way Aizen, and as soon as they find out that you assaulted and attempted rape on Rukia you are going to be arrested, and I would bet that as soon as Byakuya finds out what happened to his little sister, you can pretty much guarantee that you will be ruined, you and your family."

It didn't take very long for the cops to arrive. They asked me a bunch of questions, as well as Ichigo. Since I didn't have my cell phone I asked the officer if they would mind calling my brother and letting him know what happened. Part of me was still very upset with him, forcing me to leave with Aizen even though he could tell I didn't want to, but at the same time, he was the only family I had left.

Ichigo and I watched Aizen get put into the back of the cop car.

"Don't worry Ms. Kuchiki, this isn't the first time this boy has had a run in with the law, but hopefully this will be his last time. We'll be in touch."

The officer gave me a nod and then left. What a morning.

Ichigo and I finally had a moment alone.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He looked down at me with those brown eyes. Eyes that were full of worry and guilt.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm fully capable of taking care of myself you know."

"I know you are, but that doesn't mean that I'm still not going to worry about you and want to be there to help you."

He's so sweet. I know that he's, more or less, the town delinquent, but he has such an amazing heart. When it comes to those around him that he cares about, he'd do anything in the world to make sure they are taken care of.

"Thank you for being here with me Ichigo."

I guess the cops had reached my brother, because he pulled into the library while I was still locked in Ichigos' embrace. I made a move to get out of his arms before my brother could catch us, but that only made Ichigo hold me tighter.

"Ichigo, if he sees us together like this I'll never be able to leave the house, at least not without a bodyguard watching my every move."

"Rukia, aren't you tired of having to live by your brothers' rules? You should be able to do what you want with whomever you want. It's time you stand up to him."

"I can't do that Ichigo, he's the only family I have and I don't want to disappoint him."

"Well, then I guess I'm going to have to stand up to him for the things I want. This is your last summer here at home and who knows what is going to happen when fall rolls around and you have to leave. I want to be able to spend as much time with you as I possibly can, freely."

I couldn't protest to what he was saying. He was right, and I definitely wanted to spend my summer with him and my friends, at least what I had left of friends.

"Rukia, are you alright?" My brother approached us, slightly worried looking and slightly angry.

"Yes I'm fine, but if it wasn't for Ichigo being here to take charge and call the cops who knows what would've happened."

"I see. Thank you Ichigo, for watching out for my sister. I will be taking her home now, Rukia, let's go."

Ichigo blocked my brothers' reach for me and I could see the daggers flying between their eyes.

"Excuse me sir, but I would like to spend the day with Rukia and to be quite honest, after this mornings' events, I'm not entirely comfortable with letting her out of my site."

"While you did play an important role in helping her out this morning, let's not forget the scene you caused at my home the other day. One good deed does not erase a bad one. I'm sorry Ichigo, but Rukia is coming home with me."

Ichigo stepped between my brother and myself, I'm not sure what their faces looked like now, but I could only imagine how furious my brother was becoming.

"With all due respect, Byakuya, I'm not asking for your permission, I'm simply letting you know what the plan is. Rukia and I will be spending the day together."

"I don't like the tone you are using boy."

"And I don't appreciate you calling me boy or trying to control Rukia like she's some puppet of yours. She has the right to make her own choices and not have to live under your thumb for the rest of her life."

My brother and Ichigo were within inches of each other. I was ready to just give in and go with my brother when he backed away from Ichigo and walked to his car.

"Rukia, I expect you home by dinner."

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Yes brother! I'll be there."

He got in his car and drove away. I turned to Ichigo who seemed quite satisfied with himself. My eyes were wide and my mouth wide open.

"I can't believe you actually got him to let me spend the day with you!"

"I'm just that good."

"Right. Well, did you want to go inside now, since this was our original plan anyway?"

"Rukia, now that I have you for the day, we are going to do everything we possibly can out in public, since this is officially our first date."

Ichigo leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.

"Why don't we walk back to my house, you can get cleaned up there and then we'll take my car out."

"Out where?"

"It's a surprise."

I nodded and we started to walk towards his house. Wait. I'm going to Ichigos' house, and we might be alone there. I suddenly got very nervous. I guess Ichigo could feel the tension in my hand because he looked at me and asked if I was all right.

"Oh yeah, I'm just fine, just um, got a bit of a chill thinking about this morning is all."

"Don't worry, I'll never let anything ever happen to you."

I smiled. I know you won't let anything happen to me Ichigo, but how can you possibly protect me from myself, or from you?

"Hey Ichigo, is there anyone at your house?"

"Um, I'm not sure. My dad is out at work and my sister Karin left for summer camp this morning, so if anyone is home it would be my other sister Yuzu, but I think she said something about going to her friends house. So it's possible the house will be empty, why?"

"Oh, no reason, it's just, well, this will be the first time we've really been alone together since we were children."

"Yeah, I guess it will be." Ichigo grabbed my hand slightly harder and a smiled formed on his mouth.

I'm not sure if we were thinking the same thing, but the thoughts that were running through my head were definitely not childhood memories.

Sure enough, when we got to Ichigos' house, nobody was home. Ichigo led the way upstairs to his bedroom.

"The bathroom is over there, feel free to take a shower and if you want me to wash your clothes or anything I can."

"Oh, um, thanks, I would actually love it if you could wash my clothes, get that smell off of them."

He nodded and I walked into the bathroom to get undressed. I wrapped the towel around my naked body and opened the bathroom door with my clothes in my hand. I could see Ichigo starting to turn red. We stood there for a few moments, just looking at each other. Ichigo still fully clothed, minus his shoes, and me, with only a towel on. I'm not sure if it was my attack from this morning, or the fact that my heart was racing, but I felt like it was time. Time for Ichigo and I to be together, I mean, it's not like we were strangers or anything.

I walked out of the bathroom to Ichigo who was standing next to his bed. I dropped my clothes on the floor next to us, reached up to his face and placed my lips on his. His arms wrapped around my body, slightly pulling the towel up further on my legs, almost exposing my ass, but I didn't care. I gently pulled away and sat on his bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards me.

"Rukia, are you sure of what you are doing?"

A smiled formed on my lips, "I've never been more sure of anything else Ichigo. I don't want to wait, and I don't want anyone else to have me."

Ichigo pressed his lips against mine and slowly laid me back on his bed, holding himself above me. He slid one arm under my back and lifted me up to move me further into the middle. His lips traced the side of my neck and then across my collarbone. I released my grip on the towel that covered my body and let it fall open.

Ichigo stopped kissing me and looked down at my body and then back up to my eyes.

"Rukia you're so beautiful."

He pulled away from me and sat up on his knees, peeling off his shirt and undoing his belt and zipper on his pants. He paused a moment to look at me and my naked body laying on his bed again, and then he lowered himself back onto me and whispered into my ear, "I love you Rukia."

"I love you too Ichigo"

At that moment there were absolutely no doubts in my mind about wanting to do this, right here, right now, with Ichigo.


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry that I haven't updated in a while! Between the holidays and losing inspiration my story took a backseat to live. But here I am, determined to finish this story, it is far from over. I hope this update doesn't disappoint, and yes, LEMON!**

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Bleach, or it's characters, in any way, shape or form. **

* * *

His hands were much softer than I imagined. They grazed the length of my body while his lips and tongue traced my neck and then found their way back to my mouth. Our bodies were in perfect rhythm. Ichigo moved one of his hands down to between my legs. There he let his fingers dance along my clit before he moved them to my opening.

I took in a staggering breath as his fingers entered me. Swirling them in a circular motion and finding my special spot. I bit my lower lip as a moan slipped out of my mouth. I guess this made Ichigo happy because his motions became faster. I could feel my entire body start to tingle. I arched my back and wrapped my arms around Ichigos neck as I pulled myself closer to his face.

"Are you ready Rukia?"

I couldn't find my voice to respond, so I just nodded my head instead.

Ichigo removed his fingers and instead inserted the tip of his manhood. I could feel myself getting wetter at just the idea of having him inside of me. I spread my legs further to give him more access. Inch by inch his entire manhood entered my body. It felt amazing. I had no idea anything in this world could feel so good, that could make my body feel so good.

His thrusts were slow but powerful, and he grunted just a little each time he did. His breath was staring to stagger as mine was. Our foreheads were touching now and I whispered, "Faster". A smile spread across his face as he started to pump faster into me. My heart was racing. Our bodies were slapping together and I started to have the tingling feeling throughout my entire body again. I moved my hands to his chest which caused him to slow down.

"What's wrong?"

"Roll over."

Ichigo gladly obliged as he pulled me closer to him and rolled over onto his back, never letting our bodies disconnect. I was now straddling him, and his manhood. He placed his hands on my hips and started to guide my body back and forth. I reached down and moved his hands from my hips up to my breasts. There he caressed them. I placed one hand on the wall to steady myself and used my other want to tease my clit. I rocked my hips back and forth on Ichigo, gaining speed with every move. Ichigo had closed his eyes and tried hard to muffle the moans and grunts coming out of his mouth, but he was unsuccessful. I also let out a moan, but it was much louder than his. I could feel his penis throbbing inside of me, pulsating. His forehead was starting to wrinkle, "don't stop Rukia, I'm so close". Ichigos hands moved back to my hips, and encouraged me to move faster. The speed, the pressure, the pure pleasure was sending me over my limit. My body started to tremble and there was no mute button for my screams.

"OH! OH! OH MY GOD!"

"OH FUCK!" and then it happened. I could feel Ichigo explode inside of me as my own pleasure bubble had popped. My entire body was shaking as the sensation spread like a wildfire. I could feel Ichigo below me still thrusting until I felt him go soft inside of me.

I felt as if every muscle in my body turned to jello as I allowed myself to collapse onto Ichigos' chest. His hand grazed my back and up to my head where he ran his fingers through my hair.

"That was amazing Rukia", he pulled himself up and kissed me on the lips. I nodded in agreement.

We laid like that for what seemed like forever. I looked over at the clock, 2pm. We had plenty of time before I had to head home for dinner. I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the sound if his heartbeat.

Ichigo had fallen asleep almost immediately, no surprise there. It wasn't long before I too had fallen asleep.

"ICHIGOOOO!"

We both woke up, quite abruptly to the sound of Ichigo's father calling out his name, and then the sound of his footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Oh shit! If my father finds us like this I will never hear the end of it."

Ichigo quickly jumped off of the bed and scrambled to find his clothes. I didn't know what to do so I ran into the bathroom to shower like I had originally planned to do in the first place.

Just as I closed the door to the bathroom I heard Ichigos bedroom door open.

"Ichigo, why didn't you answer me when I called?"

"Oh, uh, I was um, showing Rukia the bathroom so she could take a shower."

"What!? Rukia is here? And why would she need to be taking a shower, in YOUR bathroom?"

"She got into a bit of a mess earlier today and wanted to freshen up while I washed her clothes for her."

"Her clothes huh, you mean those wadded up over there on the floor next to your, shall I say, messy bed?"

I couldn't listen to this conversation anymore, we had been caught. I stepped into the warm water to let the events that just took place replay in my mind before everything came crashing down. I was so happy. I had no idea that Ichigo could make me this happy, that anyone could ever make me feel this happy. I didn't want this feeling to ever end. Why must I go away to school? Wait, Ichigo stood up to my brother this morning, maybe, just maybe, he could convince my brother to let me pick a school closer to here. No, wait, what the hell am I doing, I can't change my entire future plans because of a feeling. Or can I? I have the whole summer to think about what will happen this fall, I'm not going to ruin this moment worrying about something months away.

I stepped out of the shower and toweled myself off. I didn't hear any voices so I assume that Ichigo got his dad to leave the room. I quietly opened the bathroom door and peeked into Ichigos room. Nobody was in the room, and my clothes were gone. Right, because Ichigo was going to wash them for me. I glanced over at the clock again, 4pm. I still had an hour before I needed to head home, dinner was at 5:30. I glanced at the bed and saw a folded shirt and some shorts.

After I changed and dried my hair I decided that I wasn't going to hang out in Ichigo's room like some horrible secret. I opened the door to go downstairs, but much to my surprise, both Ichigo and his father were standing in the hallway staring at me.

"Rukia my dear, how I've missed you!" Isshin bounded at me and embraced me. His grip was a little tight, otherwise I would've said hello.

"Dad let go of her, she's starting to turn blue." Ichigo started to pull his father off of me.

"Oh no, I'm fine" I lied, "Mr. Kurosaki, it's so great to see you again, it's been quite a few years since the last time I was over here."

"Yes, it has! I hope Ichigo didn't do or say anything dirty while you were in his room, did he?" I could feel his eyes could see right through me and already knew everything that had happened, but I decided to lie as best I could.

"Oh please, Ichigo do something dirty? He's still the same little old strawberry that I played with as a child." I smiled at Isshin and then glanced at Ichigo who was clearly not impressed with my choice of words.

"I see, well then, I suppose I was a little crazy to suspect that anything would ever happen between you and Ichigo, I mean, you are definitely way out of his league. Rukia, don't be a stranger, come by more often to hang out with my anti-social son."

With that, Isshin went back downstairs and Ichigo and I were finally alone again.

He walked over to me and placed his arms on either side of my head, forcing me to back towards the wall.

"Strawberry huh?"

"It was the first thing I thought of." I shrugged a little and gave a half smile at him. He leaned his face in closer to me.

"We're going to have to come up with different pet names if that's the best you have." He pressed his lips against mine and pulled me into his chest.

"You know, my dad was right about one thing though, you shouldn't be such a stranger."

I just shook my head and laughed.

"How much longer until my clothes are done? I have to be home before 5:30."

"Oh, um, well they just got thrown into the washer, so it's probably going to be about 45 minutes before they are done washing and drying."

"That's not going to work, and I certainly can't wear your clothes home. You think my brothers rules are bad now, I don't even want to imagine what they would be if I came home dressed like this."

"Well, you could probably borrower some of my sisters clothes, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Okay."

We walked into Yuzu's room, since most of her clothes fit me, and managed to find a tank top and a pair of jeans that would work out just fine.

5:00pm

"I need to get headed home, it takes about 20 minutes to get from your house to mine."

"Yeah, let's go."

The car ride back to my house was a bit awkward. I wasn't uncomfortable, just very silent, too silent. I wanted to do something to break the silence but Ichigo beat me to it, but not with words I wanted to hear.

"Well, here's your house."

"Oh, wow, that was fast. I, um…..today really meant a lot to me."

"Yeah, me too, it was fun."

It was fun? What is that supposed to mean?

"Fun, yeah." Okay, this was really awkward.

"Sorry, I'm just, it's uh….wow, so this is what it feels like to be a loser and say all the wrong things at the wrong time." Ichigo ran his fingers through his hair and was shaking his head. It made sense now.

"Oh, so I'm guessing this was a first for you too?"

I smiled at Ichigo and his face turned red.

"What? No, no, um….yeah. I mean, I'm happy, so happy, I just thought that, well maybe…'

"That maybe I expected something different? Ichigo, you're perfect just the way you are and I am honestly relieved that we were each other's firsts."

He cupped my face with his hands and kissed my lips once more before we had to part. I didn't want the kiss to end.

"I'll call you later."

"You better." I smiled and got out of his car.

I felt a bit sick to my stomach as I walked up the stairs to the front door. I wonder if my brother would suspect anything.

I turned one last time before I opened the door and waved to Ichigo, who was still sitting in the driveway, waiting for me to walk into the house. He really was special to me and I can't believe I let so much time go by without seeing him. I'm definitely not going to let that happen again. Ichigo is once again a part of my life, and this time, he's here to stay.

I took a deep breath and walked into the house, not prepared at all for what was waiting for me.

"Rukia, just in time for dinner." My brother stood up from the couch in the living room and extended his hand to me. Sitting on the couch was Renji.

"Rukia, please, do not be rude to your guest. Renji has been here all afternoon waiting for you."

"Excuse me for being rude, but why are you here? And why did you let him come over? I thought he was banned from ever coming over again or having contact with me?"

"You are correct Rukia, however, in light of todays' events I started to reconsider my previous position."

"Reconsider your previous position?"

"You see, up until today, you've never had any sort of trouble and it's become apparent that I am not always going to be around to protect you. I know you do not wish to have a bodyguard and I'm trying to let you spread your wings a little since you will be on your own this fall. This morning after I returned home from speaking with the police down at the station I received a phone call from Renji here. While I assumed he was trying to reach you, he was actually calling for me. You see, he apologized for the scene he caused, inquired about your well-being and also informed me that he was going to be attending the same university this coming fall."

"Wait a second, you and Renji were discussing plans for having me watched while at college and didn't even bother to ask me?"

Renji quickly rose to his feet and was shaking his head.

"No Rukia, that's not what we were doing at all. After I heard about what had happened this morning I was scared. I was scared that something bad had happened to you and I realized that I was willing to do whatever it takes to earn your friendship back and be there to help you, to protect you."

"I don't need to be protected! And it's going to take a lot more than just apologizing to my brother to make up for what you did. I'm sorry but I don't approve of this and I certainly don't want you here in my house right now."

My brother cleared his throat and I knew I had just stepped out of line.

"Well Rukia, this is actually my house, and while I'm finding myself to become a bit more lenient on the rules, while you are in my house you will behave as you were taught to and you will do as I say. I am allowing you to, against my better judgement, hang out with that Kurosaki kid, and now you will allow Renji here to, whether you like it or not, to accompany you everywhere you go until I no longer feel it is necessary. Do I make myself clear?"

What the hell? How did everything change so quickly in just a matter of hours? I thought that I was finally going to be able to have a summer to myself, well a summer with Ichigo and have my brother light up a bit, but instead it's the exact opposite. Only instead of some random bodyguard, Renji will be following me around. Renji, the guy who was my best friend, but turned into some psycho and basically ripped his girlfriends' heart out and stomped on it in front of all her friends and then tried to beat-up Ichigo, my other best friend.

"I guess I really don't have an option now do I?" was all I managed to get out. I guess that answer satisfied my brother because he motioned for us to head into the dining room and have dinner.

Dinner was mostly silent, with the exception of the normal eating and drinking noises. Right before dessert was served my brother had received a phone call.

"Forgive me, I must run to the office, we have a very important meeting on Monday morning and of course, nobody can manage to do their job without me there. Please enjoy dessert. Renji, thank you for coming over, I expect you to talk things out with Rukia and report back to me in the morning. Rukia, I will be home late, I will see you at breakfast."

With that my brother had left and it was just Renji and I left in the dining room. I could feel Renji's eyes lingering on me, but I didn't dare bring myself to look at him. I was furious at him, and my brother. This day had started horribly, turned into the most amazing day of my life and then this.

"Look Rukia, I really am sorry about what happened at your party. I was completely out of hand and will regret it for the rest of my life."

"Save your sorry's for someone who actually gives a damn Renji. I don't want to hear them. You were a complete and total ass to not only me and Ichigo, but what about Orihime? Can you even begin to understand how much you hurt her?"

I guess Renji and I were actually going to have to have this conversation. I wanted to storm out of the room and yell at him, but at the same time, he was my best friend, and I wanted to know what was going on with him.

"I was a complete ass. I know this. I've tried to call Orihime but she's not speaking to me. I, I really can't explain what happened. I messed up, big time. I don't know if I will ever get Orihime to forgive me, but as of right now we are no longer dating, and probably not even friends. We really weren't even that good of friends to begin with before we started dating. Ichigo and I have really never gotten along, you know this. But you and I? Rukia, we've been through everything together, we tell each other everything and I can't imagine not having you in my life, I don't even want to begin to imagine a life without you in it. What is it going to take to have you forgive me?"

Renji reached across the table and took my hands in his. I flinched at his touch, remembering all of those hurtful things he said. I took my hands out of his and shook my head.

"Renji, I honestly don't even know how to begin to forgive you. You hurt one of my friends, you hurt me, and you were fighting with my boy, er Ichigo." Fuck, nobody is supposed to know about Ichigo and I yet.

I wasn't completely sure if Renji had caught was I was about to say, until I saw his face.

"You're what?"

"You know what, I think we're done here. Just tell my brother that we're working on patching things up okay."

"No. What were you about to just call Ichigo? Are you two dating now?"

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. I let my eyes fall to look at the table.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Renji, it's none of your business. I can do whatever I want to do and with whomever I want to do it with."

That was a poor choice of words.

"ARE YOU FUCKING HIM?"

Shit.

"Okay Renji, now you really need to leave."

I stood up from the table and made my way to the front door to show Renji out.

"Oh no, not until I get some answers."

"Why does it matter so much to you anyway? We're just friends Renji. You don't need to know everything thing that goes on in my life. Especially since we are trying to mend whatever glimmer of a friendship is left. If you really want to stay in my life and be my friend then I suggest you leave my house now."

"Fine."

Renji stormed out of my house. Part of me was relived, but another part of me felt like this was just the beginning of a very, very long summer filled with more drama than I could ever ask for in my entire lifetime.


End file.
